Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Module VI-American Period: Transportation and Communication


Module VI-American Period:  Transportation & Communication
What are issues facing Alaskans today related to transportation and communication?


This past week was Spring Break and as a result my husband, daughter and I drove down to Homer to spend a few days with my mother, who lives there.


During our trip, we had the opportunity to accompany a contract postal worker on one of his biweekly mail delivery trips across the Katchemak Bay to the small community of Little Tutka.
The mailboat tied to the Dock at Little Tutka on March 16,2012
This experience caused me to contemplate two of the major issues related to transportation that exist in Alaska today.

The first issue is hazardous travel conditions.

The day we rode in the small mail boat, the weather was cold and windy, and the waves were big.  The ride was fun and exciting but also scary!

When we were safely back on land my mom, who frequently rides across the bay, said that these were the biggest waves that she had ever experienced.

The postal worker we rode with did not seem at all concerned.  After the trip, I asked him what his criteria was for cancelling a trip, and he said that the waves would have to be “bigger and steeper”.

These comments caused me to reflect about all of the weather and terrain related risks that we as Alaskan’s take, such as flying in small planes in stormy skies and riding in small boats over stormy seas to simply get from place to place and to deliver mail and goods.

When I lived in Kodiak, I remember many times when I would get “weathered out” and have to spend the night in Anchorage on my way back home from a trip.

Residents, such as myself that live in Fairbanks, Anchorage and the other larger Alaskan communities that are connected to a major road system and have a larger airport are definitely spoiled!



Me, my husband, daughter and mother in the mailboat when we arrived safely back to Homer

In general, I think that most Alaskans are generally more adventurous, and willing to take more travel risks than the average American.


The second major issue is the increased cost of transportation and communication in and out of and within Alaska.

During my recent mail boat experience, I discovered that there are only four permanent residents of the community of Little Tutka.  I cannot even imagine how much money the United States Postal Service must spend to pay for contract mail services to this little community and others like it.

In my own personal life, I have felt the effects of high transportation costs.

For the past two summers, my daughter was under two years old and was able to fly for free as a “lap infant”, making airline travel somewhat affordable.  Now that she is two and must have her own ticket, I imagine that most of our future travel will consist of road trips in Alaska.

I experienced another example of this high cost of transportation when I attended high school in Kodiak and Barrow.

Every time I would travel for a school activity, such as a sports or music event, the school would pay for my plane ticket, along with the plane tickets of all the coaches, teachers, and chaperones.  The school would also pay for the rental vehicles and sometimes hotel rooms for everyone.

The activities budget for high schools in rural Alaska must be HUGE!  This money is spent just to be able to provide students with the typical activities that most American high school students are able to participate in with a simple bus ride.

This high cost of airline travel to and from and within Alaska creates a unique aspect of Alaskan culture in which people sign up for various credit cards, spend certain amounts of money on certain items, give up their seats on overbooked flights to get free future use tickets, cash in their dividends and figure out other creative methods of obtaining affordable plane tickets, to simply go on a short trip or visit relatives.
 
Identify the three major railroads in Alaska history - where? when? why? ownership?current status?
White Pass and Yukon Railway
White Pass and Yukon Railway

The White Pass and Yukon Railway went from Skagway to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.  Construction on the railway began in 1898 and was completed in 1900.

The railroad was largely financed by British investors.  A contractor named John Heney oversaw the construction of the railroad.

This railroad was built to serve the Canadian Klondike gold rush stampeders.  After the gold rush ended, it was used to transport ore from Canadian mines to Skagway, and to transport tourists from Skagway to Whitehorse.

During World War II, the railroad was “loaned” to the United States Government for use in hauling war supplies to Whitehorse.

After World War II, this railroad slowed down and again continued to haul tourists and freight.

When a highway was connected between Whitehorse and Skagway in the 1970’s, the railroad business greatly declined leaving its future uncertain.   The railroad was shut down in 1982 when low mineral prices caused a collapse of the mining industry.

The railway was reopened in 1988 as a seasonal tourism service.  Today it continues to serve summer tourists by taking them from Skagway, Alaska to Carcross, Yukon, which is the first first 67.5 miles of the original 110 mile route.

Alaska Railroad
The Alaska Railroad

The Alaska Railroad ran from Seward to Fairbanks, with a section going to the coal fields in the Matanuska River.  It was meant to be a main route between an ice-free port in the Gulf of Alaska and Interior Alaska.

Although businessmen dreamed of building this railroad as early as 1900, it was not until 1914, when President Wilson signed a bill authorizing a government-built Alaska Railroad that this dream inched toward reality.

In 1917, the coal fields branch was completed.  The other portion of this railroad was not completed until 1923.

This railroad had financial difficulty.  While there was sufficient business carrying supplies and mining equipment on north-bound trips, there was little cargo to be carried on south-bound return trips.

The Railroad tried to promote tourism and encourage a reindeer industry to generate south-bound revenue.  Shortly before World War II, the Alaska Railroad began making a profit for the first time.

During World War II, the railroad was used heavily to transport military supplies to interior Alaska.  However, the railroad was not adequately maintained, and by the end of the war it was in need of major repairs.

It continued to operate during the next several decades, largely as a result of the military construction boom of the 1950’s and the pipeline construction boom of the 1970’s.

In 1984, the State of Alaska bought the railroad in an effort to assure that it would continue to operate.  It is now operated as an independent state agency called the Alaska Railroad Corporation.

Today the railroad operates mainly as a tourist attraction year round.

Copper River and Northwestern Railway
Copper River and Northwestern Railway

The Copper River and Northwestern Railway ran from Cordova to the Kennecott Copper Mines in the Wrangell Mountains.  It was built specifically to meet the needs of the Kennecott Copper Mines.

Interest in completing this railroad began in 1899 when copper claims were staked in the Copper River Basin.

In 1911, the railroad began operating after twelve years of discussion about the exact route of the railroad and changes in financial backing.

The railroad was entirely financed by the Kennecott Copper Corporation, which was originally called the Alaska Syndicate.  This company was made up of wealthy and influential families from the East Coast.

John Heney, the same man that oversaw the building of the White Pass and Yukon Railway was hired to be in charge of the building of the Copper River and Northwestern Railway.

During its years of operation, the railroad carried shipments from the mine to Cordova once or twice a week.  On its way up to the mine, the railroad carried business men, tourists, miners and mining supplies.

In 1938, the Kennecott Mines closed and the Copper River and Northwestern Railway stopped operating.

In 1941, the Kennecott Corporation donated the bridges and land around the tracks to the United States government.

During World War II, thirteen miles of the rail line were used between Cordova and the Cordova airport.  Prior to 1947, sixty miles of the line between Chitna and McCarthy were used for light tram traffic.

Today the road from Chitna to McCarthy sits on the old railway roadbed.

Concluding Thoughts
 
I enjoyed the information in this module, although I did not find it quite as interesting as the past two modules.  I find it interesting that many of the issues that we face today related to communication and transportation in Alaska are the same issues that the Alaska Natives and early European settlers faced for hundreds and sometimes thousands of years (hazardous travel conditions, high cost of transportation).

In a way, I am glad that these issues exist, because if they did not, then Alaska would become much more populated and developed.  However, because of the difficulties related to communication and transportation I think that Alaska will never become overly developed and populated.

This is exactly the kind of place where I am content to live.  I am happy to trade high costs of living and increased travel hazards for beautiful scenery, lots of space, smaller population and less overall development.



Three Blog Reviews

Crystal gives a good explanation of the conflict that exists between the tourism industry and other Alaskan industries such as mining and logging.

Whitney gives a great summary of reindeer herding in Alaska.  I really enjoyed reading the link that she provided in this section

Kristi has a great section that explains why the United States bought Alaska from Russia.  I also really liked her picture of a fishing wheel in the water by Haines.  

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